Hello, everybody! I don't know if anyone here's seen any of my other stuff, but I would assume not, as this is my first Ninjago story and I'm not all that well known. Whether you do or you don't, let me just clear up now that on most my stories, I said I was changing to do one story at a time. Honestly, that's not really working anymore either. I have a lot of stories and I bounce back and forth with them as different levels of interest come and go for each. Yes, I know, I already have tons of stories, both inside and outside fanfiction, and adding another isn't the best idea… But I figure it's best to write while I'm interested and actually want to. That's kinda the whole reason I do kinda whatever when it comes to stories. So, in advance, I'm REALLY, REALLY sorry! I'm a jerk, a cruel writer (Sorry to the characters, too!), and I will maybe sort of try to graciously be okay with all the inevitable throwing of tomatoes later on. I may or may not bounce from one story to the next, update regularly or irregularly, or the like… Anyway, moving on! Couple things on the actual story, this takes place between seasons two and three, it centers around Zane and my OC (Who I totally imagine myself being because Zane is just too awesome for me not to), and there may be a few spoilers if you've not seen as far as the end of season two. Okay, next! I thought it might be a fair warning that I only have a very few things planned. Just things that I want to make sure happen and some of the main ideas are thrown in. But other than that, I literally make it all up as I go. Each chapter is as new to me as it is to you. A few are sort of planned out, the rest… Not so much. I start writing when I want to and am interested, and as soon as I'm done, I make grammar edits and post it on fanfiction - literally minutes after I'm done writing it! I think that this way, I have the main ideas down, and then the rest is kinda fun and more… I dunno, it's just better because I didn't overthink it or anything. Know what I mean? Whether you do or don't, this is what's happening, so be aware! I'm sure you've all gotten enough of my ranting and would love to get on to the story if you haven't already just skipped my note to do so. So… Here it is! Chapter starts now! Enjoy!

-LizzyLucky

(Oh! Wait! One last thing! If you read all of that, and I mean all, you. are. awesome. If you. are. awesome., say so in your review, if you even bother to review at all!)

It was peaceful. Quiet, serene, calm, whatever you prefer to call it. There was a light breeze and the sea air wasn't as salty as usual. It was nice. Zane was standing on the deck of the Bounty on a particularly beautiful morning. Everything seemed right. Except one thing… Why were they out on the ocean? Last he checked, the Bounty sat just outside Ninjago city, everything covered in a blanket of snow. They hadn't done any travelling, flying, sailing, or anything at all, really, since the defeat of the Overlord. He'd not been told anything of this. He looked down. There was something strange about the water. It didn't look right. It was just ocean water, a few fish spotted below the surface. But it was not right. It was almost… gray. For how sunny it was, the water should have been either reflective, or clear and tinted a shade of indigo. But it was gray. Was the water polluted? It was a possibility, as often things that pollute the water have a stench strong enough to overpower that of the salt water, which he noticed was not so strong. But there was no other stench either. And the ocean water had no other fluctuations indicating that a pollution source was present. He looked up and realized that everything had turned gray. Perhaps his sensors had been damaged? No, that wasn't quite right either.

*Clatter!*

Zane whipped around at the sound, and saw nothing. He looked around, putting on a more serious face. If something was here, he couldn't show the least bit of fear. But there was nothing. He looked down and saw that the Bounty was no longer there. He stood in mid-air, supported by seemingly nothing. This was not right. He looked up again and everything was black. Another clatter, and its strong, seemingly endless echo surrounded him.

"Hello?" He called out nervously. His voice did not echo.

"Who are you…" A whisper echoed in his ears, so loud it hurt, but so soft it seemed nonexistent.

Zane said nothing.

"You can't help me…"

'What?' He thought.

"I'm scared..."

"Hello?" He called out again.

"Don't let me go…"

Zane looked around frantically. The sound came from everywhere, but there was no source. The only thing he could find was himself and the blackness surrounding him. It was an endless, empty blackness, but he could see himself just fine.

"Help…"

Zane turned towards the whisper and saw a faded scene, like you'd see in an old movie. There were two figures, but he couldn't identify them. One held on to the other as he or she hung over the edge of something. It looked like the opening to a volcano, or maybe a cliff hanging over the ocean. It seemed so faded and distant, it was impossible to tell.

"I…"

"Where are you?" He called out somewhat urgently.

"don't…."

"Who are you?!" He shouted out.

"want…"

Zane cried out suddenly as something cold touched his shoulder. There was nothing there.

"to…"

Everything flashed to a blinding bright white for a moment, then immediately back to black, like a lightning flash. It was not inviting.

Suddenly, the entire place, whatever it was, began to rumble and more "lightning" struck repeatedly, but in red.

"DIE!"

Zane cried out and sat up so quickly his head hit something. The bed. It was the bed. He was in bed. It was just a dream. Zane let out a long and heavy sigh, flopping back down onto his pillow and rubbing the sore spot.

"Just a dream…" He mumbled. But what did it mean?

"Hey, Zane, you okay?" Kai poked his head from the bathroom with a toothbrush still in his mouth.

Zane smiled kindly.

"Fine." He said.

"You sure? You looked pretty freaked out for a second there."

"I'm fine. It was just a dream."

"I thought you said Nindroids didn't dream." Kai chuckled.

"I must have been mistaken." Zane said, sitting up and sliding out of bed with a thoughtful look.

"Whatever." Kai shook his head and walked back into the bathroom.

"Did I miss breakfast?" Zane asked, checking the clock, which read 9:17. It was unlike him to sleep in like this.

"HA! Hardly." Kai snorted.

Zane gave him a questioning look.

"Cole cooked. There's still some of his, uh, pancakes left. Surprisingly enough, they're only a little burnt this time. And they're not even green!"

Zane chuckled and walked to the door.

"Oh! Zane! Little warning, they're kinda… Chewy." Kai called as he left.

Zane ignored him as he walked out onto the deck and towards the kitchen. He often preffered to go outside and to the kitchen, instead of underneath in the hallway. It was, after all, winter, and he liked the snow. The Bounty was on solid ground, just outside Ninjago city, and there was snow on everything. He looked around for a moment just before he ascended the stairs. There was nothing out of place except his footprints. He felt like he was looking for something. He felt like something or someone was watching him. He wasn't sure which.

He looked up to the sky, which was clear and blue. He searched the skies for his falcon. He looked down in disappointment when the feathered robot was nowhere to be found.

*Clatter!*

"AH!" He jumped around and saw Cole on the ground with a bunch of plates surrounding him. He chuckled. Just Cole. He walked in to the kitchen, ready to test Cole's "chewy" pancakes.

"Do you need a hand, brother?" Zane offered.

Cole looked up and took Zane's hand, pulling himself up.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Kai says your pancakes weren't half bad this time around." Zane remarked.

"Yeah! I actually took your advice from last time!" Cole exclaimed triumphantly.

"I can see. They look much better."

"Hey, has anyone seen Jay?" Kai asked suddenly, walking in and picking up one of the plates on the ground.

"I think he said he was going to the hardware store in Ninjago city." Nya said, also bending over to pick up a plate.

"Ah. That's right. I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Zane asked curiously.

"He's working on some kind of a device for his parents when they come up later today." Kai explained.

"Ah." Zane nodded.

"He also told us to call him if we see his, uh, jiggly compressor thingy…"

"I don't want to search forever trying to find one of those things again. What a pain that was!" Cole said.

"I know… At least this time, we don't technically have to look, just keep an eye out… Even better, it's not in a junkyard full of stuff that looks identical." Kai said.

"Ha ha! I remember!" Nya giggled.

Zane stood up with a stack of plates and carried them to the sink, the others following suit.

"Maybe that's what he's going to get. He seems to be in such a rush to find one." Cole said.

"I'll bet it is. He even got up early! He was the first to wake!" Kai exclaimed.

"You know, that is kinda weird. Zane's usually the first to wake up. He was last to wake this morning. Even Lloyd got up earlier than Zane!" Nya pointed out.

"Why is that? Did you stay up really late again, Zane?" Cole asked, rolling his eyes at the idea.

Zane opened his mouth to say he hadn't, but Kai cut in.

"Zane had a nightmare. And he always said Nindroids don't dream." He recalled from earlier in the morning.

"It was just a dream. Nothing to worry about." Zane said.

"Is it though? That whole thing with having a sixth sense…" Cole said.

"And remember last time you had a dream? About the green ninja? That was kind of an important dream, if you ask me." Nya said.

Zane didn't respond.

"What was it about?" Cole asked. The three looked at Zane expectantly.

"Uh, nothing, really. I'm sure it's just jitters, or whatever you guys keep calling it." Zane said. He walked out of the room before anyone could answer. He ran back to their room and readied for the day.

"Jitters?" Cole repeated. The three shared a look.

Ten minutes later, Kai spotted Zane leaning on the deck's side and staring out into the sky.

"Zane? Is something wrong?" He asked calmly.

"No." Zane answered, sounding distant.

"Zane, come one! What's up?"

"Zane looked at Kai, then back out to the sky, his eyes searching for something.

"So he still hasn't come back, then?" Kai walked up next to Zane.

"No." He answered sadly.

"I'm sure your falcon'll be back from his mission soon, don't you worry." Kai said.

They'd sent Zane's falcon out to look around the city and old hideouts for their previous enemies, mainly the serpentine and the Overlord. They were fairly certain that the Serpentine were no longer a threat, and they'd just taken the Overlord out, so everything should have been fine. Sending the falcon out was just a safeguard. The problem was that they sent the falcon out over two weeks ago. It was the middle of December and Christmas was fast approaching. But Zane's father had already… passed. Kai could only imagine how lonely Zane might have felt at the moment. Whatever it was that he'd had a nightmare about that morning probably put him on edge. Must have been what he meant by "jitters" earlier.

"Zane? Do you really think that dream had no meaning?" Kai asked after a moment of silence.

"No." Zane replied.

Kai was a little surprised. "Then what do you think?"

"I don't know. It seems to have nothing to do with any of the previous events or any of our enemies."

"Do you think we could hear about it? Maybe we can help you figure it out."

Zane sat up hesitantly.

"Maybe later."

"Oh. Okay." Kai said, a little disappointed. The two walked into their room to find Jay standing over by the table and tinkering with something.

"Hey, is this the thing you said you needed?" Kai asked, holding up something that looked like a combination of several different tools.

"No. But thanks." Jay said distractedly.

"So, what are you working on?"

"It's a surprise." Jay grinned. Kai chuckled. That was just like Jay.

"Where's Sensei Wu and everyone else?" Cole asked.

"I think they decided to go do something together for their first Christmas as a family." Nya answered.

"I guess that makes sense."

There was a loud knock at the door. Everyone turned to look at the door.

"I'll get it." Kai said. He walked over to the door and looked surprised. There was a little bit of talking before Kai started laughing and turned around, hugging his stomach.

"Cole - it's - for you…" Kai said between snickers.

Cole oh-no'd as he walked to the door. A pair of strong arms reached over and grasped him in a crushing hug.

"DAD!" He choked out. Said man walked in with Cole dragging behind. Kai's snickers grew louder.

"Merry Christmas!" He bellowed.

"Merry Christmas - to you, too - Dad." Cole grunted. "I can't - breath!"

Mr. Bucket (That's about all I could find in way of last names for Cole's family…) gave a hearty laugh and set Cole down.

"Thanks…" He said, gasping for breath. Kai burst out laughing and bent over, putting his hands on his knees to keep balance.

"And all your friends!" Mr. Bucket walked in closer. Kai instantly stopped laughing. Mr. Bucket picked all three of them - Jay, Kai, and Nya - up in a bone-crushing hug. It was Cole's turn to snicker. Kai gave him a death glare when the hug was over.

"Now, where is your robot friend?" Mr. Bucket asked, looking around.

"Uh, he's not here right now!" Cole quickly replied.

"That's too bad..."

"Heh, uh, Nya and I have somewhere to go, so you guys can get caught up…" Kai said, grabbing Nya and dragging her to the door.

"But I thought we weren't leaving for a couple more- mph!" Nya tried to say. Kai slapped a hand over her mouth.

"What? No, remember? We still gotta, uh… um… we gotta… we gotta get our skates repaired before we can go skating!" Kai said, nodding to Mr. Bucket and then to Nya. She made a face that said 'Ohh!' and nodded, following him to the front door and tossing on her jacket and scarf.

"See you guys later!" She said, walking out the door behind her older brother.

"Where are they going?" Zane asked suddenly, walking in.

"They're going ice-skating." Cole answered dryly.

"But I thought they weren't leaving for a little while long- ouch!" Cole elbowed him.

Mr. Bucket looked questioningly at the two.

"There he is!" He exclaimed after a moment, rushing forward to give Zane the same hug everyone else suffered through.

"Heh! - Mr. Bucket! - Your enthusiasm - is implied!" Zane gasped.

Mr. Bucket chuckled again.

"So, uh, Dad, what did you have planned for today, then?" Cole asked.

"We gotta go find your mother first, they we're off to that competition I signed us up for!"

"D-dance competition?"

"Don't you remember?" Mr. Bucket grabbed Cole's and pulled him to the door.

"No." He groaned.

"It starts in two hours, so we better hurry!"

"Yeah… Hey! Jay! Your parents are here, too!" Cole said just as he was pulled out the door.

"Alright!" He cheered. He grabbed a tool bag and used his arm to sweep everything on the table into it.

"I'll see ya later Zane!" Jay said as he opened the door. He turned back and looked at Zane, then stopped, frowning. Zane looked a bit down.

"You'll be alright?" He asked uncertainly.

"Fine. Go enjoy your time with your family. I'm sure they'll love your invention."

"Okay." Jay responded slowly.

"Oh! Hey! I think I found your, uh, thing that you wanted earlier." Zane called just before Jay closed the door.

"Ooh! That's it! Thanks, Zane!" Jay said excitedly, grabbing the device from Zane. He slammed the door behind him, running in a childish manner towards his parents' vehicle.

"No problem." Zane sighed. He looked around. The entire place was empty. Everyone was out with their families. He looked out the window. No falcon. He sat down in a corner and stared out at the wall. He was alone.

Oh, okay, that was awful, bad, terrible… Not quite how I had expected it to turn out. But again, I just kinda come up with it as I go. Hope it was okay. Please tell me! I would love to know!

-LizzyLucky